


our little vignette

by The_IPRE



Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Beaujester Week, Day 3: Modern AU, F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-28
Updated: 2019-07-28
Packaged: 2020-07-23 21:00:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,736
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20014717
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_IPRE/pseuds/The_IPRE
Summary: Jester gets more than she expected after ducking into a coffeeshop to escape the heat.





	our little vignette

**Author's Note:**

> This brought to you by the Paris heatwave. Title is, again, from the Hozier lyric generator.

The rush of cool air when Jester opened the coffee shop’s door was a welcome relief, and despite the skin-melting heat of the sidewalk she still paused to hold it open so that Nott could scuttle in ahead of her, because she was a  _ good friend _ . Also, Nott had for some reason decided that wearing a  _ hoodie _ in the middle of the worst heat wave that Nicodranas had ever had was a good idea. Jester also might have felt like she was about to turn into a puddle, despite her usual ability to handle the heat, but at least she was wearing a nice sundress so it wasn’t as bad.

The world may have been sticky and disgusting, but she was feeling cute, so that was a plus.

Being inside was  _ much _ better though, and Jester let out a happy sigh. “Nott, how about we just, like, live here forever. No more conferences, or missing hats, or thrift stores, just pastries and air conditioning for the rest of our lives?” 

“Oh hell yeah! I’m gonna- I’m gonna go off the grid, and start a new life, and I’m never going to step outside ever again,” Nott said, pulling down her face mask and airing out her pits as best she could without taking off the hoodie. Someone sitting at the counter nearby made a face, but Jester stuck her tongue out at them because, really, if you couldn’t have empathy in this heat what kind of person were you?

And sure, the whole place smelled kind of like sweat, even though the pastries and tea were making a valiant effort to cover it up, but that was everybody’s fault, not just because of one mom with bad fashion decisions who  _ might _ have been going through a life crisis.

Jester and Nott stepped into the – surprisingly short – line, and while Nott had seemed to get quieter in the heat Jester couldn’t seem to stop herself talking. “Okay, so, like, I really want some pastries – I know, I always do, but like, I could  _ destroy _ a bear claw right now – but also if I eat anything warm I’m going to disintegrate, you know? So I’m probably going to get some pound cake or whatever – also, it’s  _ so hot _ , we both know this, but then somebody brushed against my arm when we were walking outside, and his sweat got on my skin, and I was ready to die on the spot – also, I know that I want to get an iced drink, but I’m not sure what.”

Nott was  _ hmm _ ing as Jester talked, heat-driven rambling maybe a bit too loud against the murmur of the coffee shop, but she couldn’t really bring herself to care. Everybody was dealing with the warmth their own ways, and who were they to blame her for not being able to form a coherent train of thought?

Jester looked up at the board that had the menu, even though she would probably just order something right there on the spot, and let her stream of consciousness out unfiltered. “Also, my feet  _ super _ hurt and I really probably should have worn shorts today because my thighs are sort of kind of starting to chafe, but I like this dress so oh well, but-”

Jester was cut off mid-sentence as she stepped up to the counter and, for the first time, actually saw the lady behind the register.

Jester’s first instinct was to quickly pat Nott’s shoulder which, really, probably wasn’t the best response to seeing a very attractive barista – especially not within full visual range of said barista – but she couldn’t be blamed.

Nott and Jester liked pointing out fun outfits and hot folks to each other as they walked the streets, because Jester liked looking at cool people and Nott was still trying to figure out how she wanted to look, but this woman fell more solidly into the  _ hot _ category. She may have been wearing the same uniformed apron that the other people behind the counter had on, but she  _ also _ had an undercut, and a funky earring, and she raised one of her eyebrows as she watched what was going on, prompting Jester to pull her hands together and use them to lean against the counter. 

“Hello,” she sing-songed, drawing out the word as she both looked at the woman – Fjord, her nametag said? Which was weird but Jester  _ really _ wasn’t one to critique names – and desperately tried to get her brain to work well enough to actually figure out what she wanted to order. 

“Hi.” Fjord lifted her fingers from the counter in what might have been able to be considered a wave, and then her face twisted into a grimace that  _ maybe _ was an attempt at a polite smile. “What do you want?”

Nott lifted herself up as best as she could, arms crossed against the counter because that was as high as she could reach. “Iced black coffee and whatever you have with meat.”

The fake smile dropped into a more neutral face and really, that was fair. Even in the AC, everybody was having a tough time. “We have ham and cheese croissants. If you want it toasted we can do that but,” and she lifted a shoulder up into a shrug, “I don’t know why you would.”

Nott frowned, looking over at the case with pastries and such, before shrugging. “Fine.” 

“Name?”

“Nott.” There was a look on her face that said  _ no funny business _ as Fjord squinted at the name, but before Nott could actually get to menacing the poor barista – and maybe possibly ruining any opinion she had of Jester – Jester leaned more on the counter with a smile.

“Hello Fjord, so  _ I _ would like-”

“Wait. Fjord?” The lady – maybe not Fjord after all? – looked down at her nametag and cursed, before pointing over at the guy working on drinks. “That guy’s Fjord. I’m Beau. Beauregard. But you can call me Beau.” If Jester was being hopeful – which she usually always was – she would almost think that Beau was  _ blushing _ , but it was probably more accurate that she was just flushed from the heat.

Jester looked over at  _ actual _ Fjord, frowned in consideration, and then looked back with a smile. “Well, Beau is a very pretty name! I’m Jester.”

“Nice to...meet you,” Beau said, before looking down at the register. “Did you want anything, or?”

“Oh! Yeah yeah yeah, I’d like a strawberry lemonade and slice of lemon pound cake!” Jester tapped her fingers on the wooden counter, giving a big smile and not  _ trying _ to be flirty but also kind of hoping that Beau might take it that way. 

“Cool. I’ll get those started for you.” The words might have sounded like they were pulled teeth, but when Beau smiled this time it was smaller and looked a whole lot less pained, and Jester let herself imagine that it was a  _ real _ smile as she swiped her card to pay for the food. 

As soon as Beau had set their drink orders to be made she turned away to the bakery glass, and Jester pressed her hands against her face despite the fact that skin-to-skin contact made her feel even more like she was melting. “Nott! Nott, I’m so sorry for hitting you like that earlier but-” And she let a noise that wasn’t  _ quite _ a squeal, but it definitely signaled the fact that she was might have been preparing to spiral into creating a fantasy of dating and perhaps living out the rest of her life with a stranger. “Oh, her  _ hair _ though!”

Nott squinted over at where Beau was trying, with some difficulty, to use a pair of overly small tongs to grab a croissant. “Maybe? She seems kind of like a dick though.”

“ _ Nott _ ,” Jester whispered, drawing out the name into two syllables. “Don’t be rude, I just know that she’s got a, you know, heart of gold or something. Anyway- oh! Thank you.”

Beau nodded with a smile at Jester when she passed over the pound cake, and she might have scowled at Nott when handing over her food, and  _ maybe _ they were talking too loud considering the fact that she had been less than five feet away, but oh well. Jester would – regrettably – probably never see her again, even though she would still think about her for who knew how long.

They waited off to the side for their drinks, but even as Jester started on her stream of chatter again she noticed how Beau grabbed one of the cups from Fjord as he was trying to fill it with ice to scribble something on the side. He said something to her and she flipped him off but it all seemed good natured, and Jester looked away before either of them could notice her watching, because she  _ wasn’t _ a creep, she just noticed things, but that had still gotten her in trouble before anyway.

“Jester and...Thot?” Fjord said, putting their drinks down on the counter, and Nott may have looked like she was getting ready to climb right over the counter – and Jester wouldn’t put it past her, honestly, she’d done that kind of thing before – so she grabbed Nott’s arm and her own drink and pulled them both towards the door. 

“Thank you,” she trilled, smiling back at Beau who lifted a hand fully in a wave and-

Jester almost froze in place when she  _ winked _ , but then they were out the door and in that terrible heat and she wanted to go back inside, but Nott was still glaring at her misspelled name on the side of the cup so Jester decided to just trundle on forward, staying in the shade as best they could.

When she went to take a sip of her lemonade, though, her heart skipped in her chest. Right underneath her name was a string of numbers with a  _ winky face _ after them, and now she  _ really _ wanted to run back to the coffee shop.

As she looked at the phone number, though, she couldn’t stop the smile growing on her face. 

For just a moment, the heat and bright sunlight and quickly melting ice didn’t matter, because she knew that she was going to get to talk to Beau again, and she  _ might _ have been spinning things way out of proportion but in that moment, she didn’t really care.

**Author's Note:**

> Feel free to leave a comment or kudos, or come talk to me on tumblr at [the-ipre](https://the-ipre.tumblr.com)!


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